Comments on: The Chisel-Hatchet and Scalpel In Onehttp://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/the-chisel-hatchet-and-scalpel-in-one
Woodworking advice, woodworking plans, woodworking projects and woodworking blogsFri, 18 Aug 2017 02:30:57 +0000hourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7.5By: Bob Langhttp://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/the-chisel-hatchet-and-scalpel-in-one#comment-13942
Thu, 09 Sep 2010 23:05:40 +0000http://www.popularwoodworking.com/editorsblog/The+ChiselHatchet+And+Scalpel+In+One.aspx#comment-13942I just put a dab of Gorilla Glue on the metal pad, spritzed a scrap of leather with water, stuck the leather to the metal and smacked the holdfast down to the benchtop. It’s been working for a couple years now. Maybe I should send this in as a "Trick" to some magazine?
]]>By: Davidhttp://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/the-chisel-hatchet-and-scalpel-in-one#comment-13941
Thu, 09 Sep 2010 22:10:06 +0000http://www.popularwoodworking.com/editorsblog/The+ChiselHatchet+And+Scalpel+In+One.aspx#comment-13941Did you just glue some leather to the underside of your Gramercy holdfast? Looks pretty cool. Can you explain what you did?
]]>By: Stevehttp://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/the-chisel-hatchet-and-scalpel-in-one#comment-13940
Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:43:35 +0000http://www.popularwoodworking.com/editorsblog/The+ChiselHatchet+And+Scalpel+In+One.aspx#comment-13940I agree with the approach (rough out then pare to finish), but it does highlight a frustration that beginners have: You’ll often read tutorials on joining (dovetails and M&T joints, especially) that say to cut to the line; leaving a bit and paring it off is a waste of time.

So which is it? Typically missing from the tutorials is the rationale; it’s nearly always just, "do it like this." Chris’s "coarse, medium, fine" helps, but it’s still rare to see anyone explain why they’re doing it a certain way; e.g., "The reasons I’m being careful here, roughing out the mortise and then paring to size, is that this is a show face–the edges of this mortise will be exposed for all to see. If this mortise were part of an ordinary mortise-and-tenon joint, my main concern would be a snug fit, so if it ends up a little banged up around the edges, no one will see or care."

So, this is my long-winded way of asking that, whenever you explain a joining process, you make sure to say why the particular characteristics of _this_ joint lead to you use _this_ technique, and how _that_ joint over there, while it may look similar, may be better off done with _that_ technique.

]]>By: victorhttp://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/the-chisel-hatchet-and-scalpel-in-one#comment-13939
Wed, 08 Sep 2010 07:07:35 +0000http://www.popularwoodworking.com/editorsblog/The+ChiselHatchet+And+Scalpel+In+One.aspx#comment-13939My two cents on chopping a through mortise: I discovered that pushing the chisel against the mortise edge to pry out the waste tends to ruin the said edge. With blind mortises this is ok, since the edges are going to be hidden by the tenon shoulders. With through mortises, though, one side of the mortise is going to show, so this is what I do: I start chopping on the hidden side, and instead of going half way through, I go three quarters or even more of the way, leaving about 3/16" left to chop from the other side. Then I flip the piece around and chop right through the waste; the chips are going to fall through the mortise, which makes prying stuff out unnecessary.
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